Bag-fastener.



L. B. PRAHAR.

BAG PASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED umzg, 1912.

1,023,170. I A Patented Apr. 16,1912.

WIN/E8558 do INVENTOR Km ATTORNEY OOLUMBIA PLANOORAPH cm, WASHINIJ'ION, D. c.

LOUIS B. PRAI-IAR, OF MASSAPEQUA, NEW YORK.

BAG-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Application filed January 29, 1912. Serial No. 674,079.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS B. PRAHAR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Massapequa, county of Nassau, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in fasteners or looks for detachably holding together the jaws or frame parts of pocketbooks, handbags, valises and the like.

My invention relates particularly to that type of construction in which there is employed a small box, casing or retainer resiliently and pivotally mounted upon one jaw or frame member and adapted to engage with the other jaw or frame member to hold the two together.

In carrying out my invention, I provide one of the aws with a slot and form the box or casing of the fastener with an extension integral with one side thereof and projecting through the slot. This extension is folded back upon itself and placed within the jaw and receives a torsional spring which normally tends to prevent the box or casing from tipping or tilting about an axis substantially coincident with the slot.

The invention involves the arrangement and combinations of parts hereinafter particularly set forth in the claim; and one embodiment of the invention will be described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings, to which reference is to be had, similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bag or pocketbook frame having a fastener constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a View similar to a portion of Fig. 1 but on a larger scale and with a part of the jaw broken away. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and, Fig. 1 is an inverted plan View of the parts shown in Fig. 2.

My invention is applicable to various types of aws or frame members but for purposes of illustration I have shown it applied to a pair of jaws 10 and 11 each substantially U-shaped in cross section and bent to the proper form. The two jaws or frames are pivotally connected together by suitable rivets 12 as is common in the art. The two jaws have their parallel side flanges extending inwardly and the webs of the channels form the outer peripheries of the jaws.

One of the jaws, for instance jaw 10, is provided with a slot 13 extending lengthwise thereof in the web and adjacent the outer side flange. Mounted on the jaw 10 is a box or casing 14: stamped from sheet metal and having its open side facing toward the jaws and extending across the meeting line of the two jaws. This box or casing has an extension 15 integral with one side thereof and in the same plane with said side and folded back upon itself as is clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The free end or edge of the extension comes within the box or casing and the fold 16 of the extension extends through the slot to the interior of the jaw. The extension is of substantially the same length as the slot so that the box cannot move lengthwise along the frame and the extension with the fold therein is of substantially the same thickness as the width of the slot so that the box cannot move transversely of the frame. Within the jaw 10 is a spring 17 in the form of a piece of spring steel extending lengthwise of the jaw and projecting through the fold 16. This piece of spring steel is of such width and such thickness that it fits snugly within the fold and engages with both the inner surface of the web of the jaw and the bent portion of the fold. The spring thus serves to positively prevent any movement of the adj acent edge of the box toward or from the jaw. The spring is twisted lengthwise so as to make it a torsional spring and the opposite end is held from untwisting in any suitable manner. Preferably, it is bent at right angles and disposed within the end portion of the jaw as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

The spring normally tends to prevent the edge of the box opposite to the extension from being raised away from the other jaw and the spring may be given any desired tension to vary this tendency. The free edge i of the box or casing has interlocking engagement with the other jaw 11 so as to normally prevent the separation of the jaws. One suitable form of interlocking engagement is to strike up lugs or projections 18 on the web of the jaw 11 and at such positions as to come within the box and closely adjacent to the free edge. To separate the jaws, it is merely necessary to apply a slight lateral pressure to the box or casing and the free edge will be raised away from the jaw 11 to permit the projections 18 to pass beneath the free edge. Preferably, these projections are inclined on their rear sides so that the free edge will ride up over them during the closing of the jaws.

It will be noted that the entire devic with the exception of the spring is formed of sheet metal without any rivets, solder or other special fastening means. The locking box 14 and the fastening loop are of the same piece of metal; and the device is of extreme simplicity.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

The combination with a pair of jaws one of which has a slot therein, of a sheet metal box carried by said last-mentioned jaw and having interlocking engagement with the other jaw, said box having one side thereof provided with an integral extension folded back upon itself with the free end within the box and the fold projecting through said slot and a torsional spring within said lastmentioned jaw and extending through said fold.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS B. PRAI-IAR.

WVitnesses:

C. W. FAIRBANK, HAROLD C. AYERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

